MEN & WINE DO JUST FINE

IT LOOKS AS IF wine scores another win in the health benefits department, at least for men. A wide, sweeping study has found a link between moderate wine consumption and a lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer among middle-aged men, lending more credence to the French Paradox. After following up with 35,292 men over about 28 years, researchers from the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense and Bordeaux Segalen University in France found that when more than 5O percent of their alcohol consumption came from wine, subjects showed a lower risk of death from heart disease as well as lung, lip, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, bladder, and rectal cancers. In numbers, moderate wine consumption was associated with a 4O percent reduced risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, and a 2O percent reduced risk of death from cancer. At the beginning of the study, subjects ranged in age from 4O to 65 years and hailed from Eastern France. In the end, a total of 4O35 deaths from cancer were recorded. Numbers for heart disease-related deaths were unavailable. The results of the study were presented in July at WineHealth in Sydney, Australia.

When it comes to the famous French Paradox, however – that long-standing belief that the health benefits of red wine negate the effects of the famously rich, high fat diet and the risk of coronary heart disease – the scientific community is divided. A study printed in the JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH also suggested that drinking up to half a glass of wine a day can boost life expectancy in males by five years after studying the drinking habits of randomly selected men over a 4O year period. But another study out of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for instance, found that resveratrol, the ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of heart disease, had little effect in already healthy women. Though small, the study of 29 postmenopausal women found little health improvement in those who were given 75mg of resveratrol daily – a large amount equal to drinking 8 liters of red wine.